PYGMY GRASSHOPPER

also called Grouse Locust, any small (about 15 mm [0.6 inch] long), brown, gray, or moss-green insect of the orthopteran family Tetrigidae (about 700 species). Though related to the true grasshopper, the pygmy grasshopper has forewings that either are reduced to small pads or are absent. In addition, its folded membranous hindwings are protected by a pointed elongation of the thoracic shield. The pygmy grasshopper is distinguished from the short-horned grasshopper by its practice of depositing its eggs singly in small grooves in the soil, rather than in underground chambers. It is abundant in fields containing short grasses and on muddy shores; many species are dimorphic (i.e., have both a short form with reduced hindwings and a long form with functional hindwings). Sound-producing and hearing organs are absent in pygmy grasshoppers. The Tetrigidae family ranges worldwide, but it is best-represented in the tropics, where bizarre forms with humped backs, spines, or crests are found. The genus Paratettix has been used in genetic studies concerned with the inheritance of form and colour. Although it is herbivorous, the pygmy grasshopper is not considered to be an economically significant pest.